Beg, burrow and steal

Fantastic Mr. Fox

Mr. Fox, a critter of numerous talents, also happens to possess a good eye for modern badger portraiture.

*Fantastic Mr. Fox (PG)

Wes Anderson is nothing if not unique. From his Bottle Rocket
debut to unheralded gem The Darjeeling Limited, the Texas-born
filmmaker has developed a signature aesthetic. And with Fantastic
Mr. Fox, he proves it can lift even a stop-motion animated
feature.

Adapted by Anderson and Noah Baumbach from Roald Dahl's 1970
children's novel, the surprisingly adult-ish film stars George Clooney
as the titular animal and Meryl Streep as his no-less-fantastic wife.
After a chicken-hunting prologue that sees the couple narrowly escape
danger, Mr. Fox promises his wife he'll retire from a life of crime and
settle down to start a family. Several fox-years later, the dapperly
dressed Mr. Fox finds himself working as a newspaper columnist who no
one reads, living in a tree he can't quite afford, questioning his
place in the world.

In Dahl's book, the Fox family includes four children, but here the
kids are condensed into one sulking teen son named Ash (Anderson
regular Jason Schwartzman), who competes with his newly arrived, more
athletic, hippy-dippy cousin Kristofferson (Eric Anderson, Wes'
brother) for his father's attention.

Risking home and family, Mr. Fox decides to go behind his wife's
tail to steal produce from three greedy farmers, Boggis, Bunce and
Bean, with help from Kylie (Wally Wolodarsky), a loyal, lovable opossum
who tends to zone out whenever Fox gives instructions. Naturally, the
farmers then declare war on the foxes and their friends. Anderson uses
this deceptively simple setup to further explore the Fox family dynamic
and to incorporate one of his favorite themes, that of father-son
dysfunction.

Recent articles about Mr. Fox have focused on Anderson's
unorthodox decision to direct the film from afar and to trust his
animators so completely. However, you can't second-guess Anderson's
choice to record the voice cast together on location, rather than
individually in a studio environment. The result is warmth and
spontaneity in the performances. Ideas like this, and the decision to
use real animal fur on the puppets, give the film an admirable handmade
quality.

Clooney is perfectly cast as the sly fox, his movie-star charm
conveying cunning wisdom. Streep burrows under her character's fur to
bring gravity to the reluctant yet supportive Mrs. Fox, though the
script doesn't allow her to stand out. Schwartzman and Wolodarsky both
deliver wonderfully nuanced performances as the boys, but it's Willem
Dafoe who steals the movie as the deliciously vicious,
cigarette-smoking Rat. They're supported by Bill Murray as Mr. Fox's
lawyer, Owen Wilson as confusing Coach Skip, chef Mario Batali as
Rabbit, and musician Jarvis Cocker as a banjo-strumming farmhand.

In the big picture of Anderson's career, Fantastic Mr. Fox is
a less "important" work, lacking the depth of feeling that endeared
Rushmore, The Royal Tenenbaums and The Darjeeling Limited
to legions of fans. Still, it entertains with charisma to spare; the
offbeat, witty script has a strong, though familiar, message at its
core; and it's impossible not to be charmed by the exquisitely rendered
animation.

Fantastic Mr. Fox may be an adaptation, but it's as "Wes
Anderson" as any of the director's movies, each frame infused with his
trademark style, which includes a penchant for prologues, close-ups,
quick pans, chapter titles, hipster fashion and the Rolling Stones.
Dahl's story provides the perfect framework on which for Anderson to
hang his quirky comic and emotional sensibilities. The author himself
would be proud.